Tag Archives: pregnancy

So, I’ve not been the best at keeping up with blogging (obviously). Motherhood has taken over my life at this point and lots of things have fallen by the wayside. This does not mean I haven’t been taking any pictures, however! I take loads of those, and still have had clients this year that I plan on sharing with you here, but first, a personal recap of 2015 is in order. It was a good year. Brace yourselves for a very long post, and lots of pictures of my (cute) children…

When I left you last, I had Augie, age 21 months. I now have Augie, almost THREE years old AND baby brother Jasper, eight months. How did we get here?

Well, first, 2015 began …

Then, darling Augie turned TWO, and we had an incredible owl-themed birthday party, per his request. Thank goodness for Pinterest and my interest in being crafty, plus my endlessly creative sister visiting for the occasion. It was such fun! Highlights included the owl pineapple, owl pretzels, (non-owl) cakes, owl hanging lanterns, owl balloons and other decorations (we saved toilet paper rolls for months to make some cute little guys), and owl treat bags. And one adorable two-year-old in an owl shirt, of course!

(To my mother’s horror, I got up on the railing while pregnant. It’s only a few feet down!)

This next photo encapsulates how we all feel after a big party, right?

At this point in the year, I was heavily pregnant (as you can see above!). Chronicling pregnancy is one of my favorite photo jobs, and photographing my own pregnancies has been fun and meaningful for me. The lighting models I used each week are seriously cute, too! Here are a few of my favorites from my pregnancy with Jasper (how I wish I’d chosen a long-sleeved shirt for my photo outfit; I was often freezing during these quick shoots!):

My good friend Marcy did a professional photoshoot with me and my little family at Seattle’s Olympic Sculpture Park when I was 37 weeks along. I love having these shots of the three of us, just weeks before our world changed forever.

And then I was 39 weeks and ready to be done with it!

A few days after those last two shots, Jasper was born! My labor was relatively quick and easy (two hours and forty minutes of active labor and eleven minutes of pushing) and I actually thought to myself afterwards, ‘I could do that again!’ What a relief to have it over with, though!

And just like that, we welcomed Jasper into our family. He was born on April 23rd, weighing 7 pounds, 9 ounces at 18 inches long. What a sweet, sweet baby he was and is.

In keeping with my reputation as an incessant record-keeper, I have been doing monthly photos of Jasper. Here he is at one through eight months. His 2015 has been a wonderful progression from lovable little blob of baby to crawling, cruising, smiling, laughing baby! He is an amazing little guy, full of personality and opinions already. Augie has taken to being a big brother well, though of course he occasionally struggles with it. My favorite moments as a mother of two have been when the boys are making each other laugh, just cracking each other up. I see a lifetime of friendship ahead for them and it makes me so happy.

Somewhere in there (well, in his month of August!), August turned two and a half! We were on vacation with my in-laws in Michigan and used the corn and apple fields to our advantage for his pictures:

Whew. Still with me?

This brings us to current day. Wishing you a happy and healthy 2016, full of photographs, from me and mine to you and yours! I promise to do better with blogging this year!

Can we all agree that fall, and Halloween, are the best? This fall we had a ton of fun with Augie, now almost 21 months, at Craven Farm, picking out pumpkins, playing on trucks and tractors, visiting animals, and enjoying the weather. His BFF Logan makes an appearance in these photos, too – Logan and his family are moving just a few blocks away from us and I am so excited that these boys will be growing up together!

At 21 months, Augie talks up a storm. His comprehension and vocabulary astound me! His loves remain trucks (really, anything with wheels), books, balls, and stuffed animals. He loves his music class and a kids gymnastics class, but is equally happy driving cars around our house.

For Halloween, my sister made him an owl costume. It is the most beautiful thing ever and August was adorable in it. He spent the whole day saying, “Whoo whooooo,” “trick-or-treat,” “happy Halloween,” and “búho costume!” (Búho is Spanish for owl.) Halloween also gave us the opportunity to sport a family costume with Tyler as the tree, me as the nest, and Augs as our little búho – and we have a little family announcement to make, as well, about what’s in momma owl’s nest these days … scroll to the bottom of the post to find out!

2012 was an incredible year and I’m even more excited about 2013. I’m happy to introduce a new logo for Julie Sterling Photography – I think it conveys more of the whimsy and fun that we try to put into our photos. Hope you like it, too!

You have to forgive my lack of blogging lately; besides a crazy holiday season (and lots of cute family photos I am dying to share with you), I’ve been quite busy preparing for my first baby! Little Nugget is due February 5th, so 2013 is indeed going to be a great year. Everything has been going well and I could not be happier or more excited. I haven’t had a formal maternity session yet, but I’ve been taking weekly photos for months now and I’m thrilled to share a few of my favorites with you here! This has been a fun way to keep track of my growth, keep my far-flung family in the loop, and put together a photo scrapbook of this incredible journey later.

I actually thought I was starting to look pregnant at 13 weeks – ha!

A little more legit at 17 weeks …

19 weeks, still in my regular shorts, though there was no hope of actually buttoning them …

21 weeks, and a vintage dress still fits, somehow!

25 weeks and definitely in maternity clothes!

28 weeks at home in California for Thanksgiving!

31 weeks back at home, looking big!

34 weeks, in Kalamazoo, MI for Christmas with my husband’s family, feeling cold, but still baring the belly for photography’s (and posterity’s) sake!

This week I’m only five weeks out from my due date. What an adventure! Get prepared for a baby-heavy spring of blogging!

I had the privilege of spending the day with Daniela and Felipe a few weeks ago – Dani was 35 weeks pregnant at the time, and now that her due date is just over a week away, I thought I should get these pictures up before baby Ema arrives! I loved the feel of this photoshoot! It was almost like an engagement session with all the love and adoration palpable between a couple, but this had the added emotion of an upcoming baby. We took our time on this hot July day to meander around the MIT Campus, taking plenty of stops for water and rest. We hit up the MIT Media Lab, the Gehry-designed Stata Center, the MIT Boathouse, and more … I always love a college or university campus for a session!

These two are going to be great parents. I cannot wait to meet Ema! Congrats, Felipe and Daniela!

In February, Tyler and I visited his brother Conor and our sister-in-law Gwennan in DC. During that visit, Gwenn and I had a fabulously fun maternity shoot; at the time, she was about halfway through her pregnancy. A few weeks ago, Ty and I got to visit Gwenn and Conor again, this time for their pre-baby party (and of course, another maternity shoot!).

Here’s the pregnant beauty, just weeks away from becoming a mom!

She looks amazing! Gwenn is all belly, and it’s a beautiful one, too.

Tyler and I arrived before the party to help set up, though I mostly spent my time photographing the details of the marvelous spread. Gwenn and Conor are excellent hosts!

Conor and Tyler’s mother made the party favors: a variety of delights in hand-sewn bags. Gwenn’s parents were on hand to help with all the cooking. It was all gorgeous!

This wasn’t a traditional baby shower – that’s not Gwenn’s style. Instead, it was a pre-baby celebration with food and drinks and socializing (with the mom-to-be imbibing seltzer!). Gwenn paid tribute to her Welsh roots with the UK favorite, Pimm’s Number One Cup. Yum!

The only game at this shower was the old standard where you guess the baby’s due date, sex, birth weight, and in this case, name. Gwenn and Conor will be choosing Welsh names for their baby, so guests were invited to look through a Welsh name book and try to pick a good one for Baby Williams.

However nontraditional the shower, you can’t stop people giving you presents! Gwenn was appropriately showered with gifts, and my own small contribution was a dinosaur hat I knitted for my new niece or nephew. I think it’ll fit the baby by winter in DC … it certainly doesn’t fit Tyler’s giant noggin!

One of the cutest party attendees was this little fellow, who truly loves his chocolate cake. I couldn’t help but document it!

After the party ended, Gwenn and Conor and I met up at their apartment the next day to do more photos of this special time in their lives.

These two are going to be great parents. They are so excited for their imminent arrival! And so am I!

Maternity shoots are so much fun; every mom-to-be deserves to spend a little time being glamorous before her baby arrives.

Spending time with Gwenn and Conor was wonderful, but this trip was made even better when I got to see one of my best friends, Courtney, as well! Court is new to DC and was able to attend the baby party, too. So many of my favorite people in one place – what a weekend!

Thanks to Tyler for the photo of me and Court!

Tyler was there, too, of course – it was a family affair.

Congrats, Gwenn and Conor! Thanks for throwing such an excellent shindig and bringing us all together to celebrate with you. We cannot wait for news of Baby Williams!

Happy belated Mother’s Day, internet! I am tardy in this post as I was ill all weekend (cough, cough, sniffle, sniffle). But in the spirit of Mother’s Day, I already shared Baby Beane and her mother with you, and would now love to share a Mama-to-be, Sarah.

Sarah was just weeks away from giving birth at the time of our shoot, and the nursery had just been finished for baby Mari.

Doesn’t Sarah just glow? And the nursery was the cutest thing I’ve ever seen; such great colors and filled with light!

Sarah and her husband are such wonderful, kind people, it was a pleasure to spend the morning with them. They are so excited for their daughter’s arrival!

Baby girls are so much fun – think of the outfits! Sarah had a whole lineup of adorable shoes – we couldn’t help but use them in some of the photos:

About ten days after our photoshoot, I heard from Sarah that Mari was arriving much earlier than expected, so I am so glad we got the chance to capture Sarah’s pregnancy when we did!

Last week I had the pleasure of photographing one of my former coworkers, a wonderful woman I worked with every day before I decided to pursue photography full-time.

Meet Aleja!

Aleja was only six weeks away from her due date at the time of our session and she looked fabulous! I think she is the hippest mom I know, hands down.

I was very lucky because I not only got to catch up and spend time with Aleja, but I also got to hang out with her entire family! She has a very sweet husband and two beautiful girls, all of whom joined us in the studio.

The third sister in this terrific trio is on her way soon, and the girls know it! They are quite excited about Aleja’s pregnancy, though I’m not sure little Cece understands it completely … Aja definitely does!

Isn’t Nate lucky to be surrounded by so many beautiful women?

Cece got a little pregnancy explanation from her parents mid-shoot (without going into details, of course):

To get the girls interested in participating in the photoshoot, I resorted to pink ribbon! We had them tie up their Mommy, which was a very fun game, indeed. Cece went from refusing to step on the white paper (she didn’t want to get it dirty! Isn’t that too sweet?) to carousing around in circles with Aja. We just had to make sure they didn’t end up choking Aleja … but that was easily avoided!

Watching Aleja with her family was a joy. She is such a good mother! I also have a sweet spot in my heart for families of three girls, seeing as I come from one. There’s nothing quite like it.

Keeping with the girly theme, I wrapped Aleja in a pink pashmina to show off the gorgeous belly some more. She is just stunning!

We ended the photoshoot with an idea from Aleja’s girls: all they wanted, apparently, was to draw on her belly! With non-toxic highlighters, Aleja let them do just that. I am in LOVE with this adorable picture of Cece; she is a firecracker, and you can see it!

Aja is interested in becoming a photographer herself, and by the end of the shoot she had warmed up enough to try it out (with a fake camera Aleja brought for her to play with). I think I may have some competition!

Thank you so much, Aleja, Nate, Aja, and Cece! I had such a wonderful evening with you and I cannot wait to meet the new baby when she comes. She is so lucky to be joining such an amazing family.

Or was it 22 weeks? It was the end of February, and my gorgeous and pregnant sister-in-law, Gwennan, allowed me to photograph her. Let’s call it 21.5 weeks just to be safe.

Gwenn lives in Washington, DC and Tyler’s rugby schedule had us flying in for the weekend. It was a very quick trip, but I made sure to schedule some time with Gwenn to capture her midway through her first pregnancy. This is the first grandchild for our family, so it is extra exciting!

Gwenn is a beauty, pregnant or not, no doubt about it:

While Tyler played rugby and his brother, Conor (Gwenn’s hubby) dutifully went to watch the game, Gwenn and I stayed home for our photo shoot.

I think pregnancy is especially beautiful, so it is such a joy to be around moms-to-be for me. Gwenn and I are close, and I think this allowed me to bring out some very open and natural expressions in her. My challenge will be to do this with other pregnant women I hope to photograph in the future, with women I’ve just met!

Gwenn is due in July, and I’ll be back in June for her baby shower (and another photoshoot), and again in August to meet my new niece or nephew (and photograph him or her)! I think it will be wonderful to document the course of Gwenn’s pregnancy, and its amazing culmination!

After a while, we decided to bare the belly! Isn’t it the most incredible thing ever? I just can’t ever get over how amazing pregnancy is. Billions of women have gone through it, but each individual case is so special and such an honor to be a part of.

Thank you, Gwennan, for being a willing subject for my lens. You look gorgeous! Can’t wait to see you again soon!